Through the Darkness
by Monk Warrior
Summary: Mjr.Brandon Tran and his mechanized battalion struggle through several battles against overwhelming zerg! Will he live up to his prominent name and the name of his infamous Siege Tank, Marauder??
1. The First Battle

Through the Darkness  
  
The Siege Tank rumbled to a halt. The side pontoons embedded in soil, and the impressive Arclite Shock Cannon deployed, replacing the twin 80's. There emblazoned commanded insignia on the side warned possible enemies this was no ordinary tank. The sight of such a weapon struck fear deep into the heart of the opposition. Suddenly, the powerful piece of Artillery started firing, throwing the enemy Zerg forces into chaos. This inspired the Terran troops to charge forward, vanquishing the Zerg army, punching innumerable holes in their lines. Even as more tanks, and even Vultures and Goliaths appeared to support the Terran infantry, the battle had already been won, the Terran victory maked by a sea of Zerg Blood and Carcasses. On their return to the Barracks and Vehicle Hangar, the pilot of the tank stepped out. It was the legendary commander of the Mechanized "Maverick" contingent of Raynors Raiders. His company consisted of numerous Siege Tanks, Goliaths, Vultures and even some SCVs and Marines. The highly decorated squadron had several victories to their credit over the Zerg and the UED, receiving several commendations from Jim Raynor himself. This time, he was working against the forces of the Queen of Blades, Kerrigan. He spoke to his boys, "We smoked them!!! Lets get some showers and a hot meal! I want to get out of this Battle Armor this instant. statistics?" "We suffered minimal losses. Just three Vultures were lost to Hydralisks burrowed in ambush," reported a junior Lieutenant, Michael Smith. "Enemy casualties?" asked Tran. "Extreme. They lost over 400 of their less powerful units to us, and 153 high-end units succumbed to our big guns." "Good. At least they'll remember to stay in bed or what ever pile of shit they sleep in the next time they hear mechanized units coming and someone says 'Maverick'. Structures?" "We razed 27 and the infantry finished the rest." "OK!!! Give my order to your troops!!!" Brandon bellowed to his subordinate officers, "No more MREs today and shower time is extended 5 extra minutes!!! Your troops are dismissed. Meet me in the Mess Hall in an hour." A wave of dismay rolled over the battalion of Marines when they found that the food would be no better than MREs. "Just playing!!!! Meet me near the Officers Quarters and we'll get some real food where the commanding officers eat!! The stuff fit for a General, and the smokes fit for a king in the dispensers there, to all you tobacco addicts! DISMISSED!!!" A roar of delight sprung up and the Marines sauntered off to the Barracks to get out of the CMC-300 battle armor they had been wearing all day and get the precious extra five minutes of shower. 


	2. Invasion

After the defeat of the Zerg by the Mavericks, Raynor moved his forces to Braxis where and abandoned Dominion fortress and its satellite structures and derelict UED outpost waited. Several of the buildings were complete with addons, so it was easy to bypass automated defenses, take over buildings, and start mining. Raynor ordered orbital defense stations to be built, armed to the teeth with laser batteries, experimental turret mounted Yamato Cannons, Missile turrets, and even Marine stocked bunkers to be built! For outstanding duty in the last battle, Tran was awarded a command Battlecruiser. During the victory celebration, Tran christened it The Centurion. A new base was built for the Mavericks as well, Fort Aegis, meant to take the best the enemy could throw and throw some right back. While Braxis was being fortified, all was not well. A legion of Zerg were spotted advancing towards Braxis........  
  
0300 hours, one of the four Tropical orbit defense stations in geosynchronous orbit above Braxis...... Marine Pvt. Charles Bradley woke to a blaring Klaxon. Another drill? He hated drills, especially early morning ones. He quickly slapped on his combat armor along with the other Marines, Firebats, Ghosts, and Medics in his barracks. The full force of 40 marched out. 20 Marines, 10 Firebats, 5 Ghosts and 5 Medics in all. It wasn't a drill!! Marines were firing rounds into the air to support the Missile Turrets and Laser Batteries laboring to take out the numerous Mutalisks swarming by the air, firing their Glave Wurms at the Terran forces. A Guardian was destroying the Turrets, but as Bradley watched, a Yamato cannon started charging. Crimson energy streamed into the discharge point and fired at the offending Guardian. The Guardian exploded in a shower of blood and its carcass drifted off into space. Bradley spotted a row of unoccupied Bunkers, amounting over ten, waiting to be loaded. Bradley motioned to his comrades and they entered the Bunkers. Several Mutalisks came by, and the Marines and Ghosts slaughtered them. The Zerg flyers lay in heaps as a grisly testament to the power of bunkered infantry. The initial wave of Mutalisks had been eliminated. But the damage had been done. Several buildings were on fire, and the mangled bodies of Terran infantry were strewn around the wreckage. Many defenses had been destroyed, and the Yamato Cannons had depleted their energy. A wing of thirty Wraiths flew from a burning hangar. Half flew towards Braxis to warn of imminent attack, and half stood by to guard the station, cloaked. Soon, to the squads dismay, overlords began disgorging fresh intruders. An Ultralisk spotted the bunkers, and loped towards them. The defenders fired till their hands blistered, pumping round, after round into its gargantuan body. Due to the unholy punishment the assailant was taking, one thing could be concluded. The Ultralisk was a legendary Torrasque. The entire platoons firepower killed it eventually, but the bunker was totaled, leaving four exposed Marines. The entire team left the protection of the bunkers, as "Stick together through thick and thin" had always been the motto of their barracks. They ran pass the debris of decimated structures, bodies, and killing several Zerglings in their way, although losing several of their numbers. Another Ultralisk loomed ahead. It was destroying a helpless turret while two Wraiths tried, fruitlessly, to deter it with their burst lasers. The last team medic hit it with a well aimed optical flare from her flash-grenade launcher, and the monstrosity flew into a rage, slicing madly at all in its path, eventually finding the medic. It tore her to shreds, leaving body parts everywhere and bits of combat armor. The remaining 10 marines, 6 Firebats, and last Ghost toiled to defeat it. The marines advanced, coming onto a barrage of needle spines from Hydralisks. Eventually, they killed the attackers, but the dwindling squad lost half their Marines. Bradley was one of the last five marines. The group arrived at a crossroad in time to see a flesh-structure mutate. It transformed into a pulsing, gray, blob. Bradley heard a crunch as he moved forward to get in firing range. It was the creep! Bradley simply knew: the blob had to die. It had an ominous feeling to it. The last team ghost cloaked and ran in the directions of the master controls, presumably to set the station to destruct. Bradley knew from this, the outcome predicted by the Ghost was far from a victory. And Ghosts are pretty accurate in their guesses. He poured round after round from his Gauss rifle, and he injected himself with a stimpack. He felt the energizing effects and fired even more furiously, the 8mm spikes flying from his Gauss Rifle's barrel at hypersonic speeds. The remnants of the Firebat/Marine group followed his example and stimmed up. The Firebats' Perdition Flamethrowers spewed gouts of flame into the blob, and marked it ugly black scorches. Bradley could only pray that the Ghost had made it as the mutation completed. But suddenly, the new structure thrust a tongue-like appendage beneath the ground. The emerging spiked tendril punctured Bradleys thick, Neosteel armor as if it were rice paper, and several important organs as well. As blood gushed out of his wound and Bradley lay dying on the ground, Bradley caught a glimpse of an explosion destroying the station, covering the already diminishing cries of dying Marines and the sound of firing with the constant, deafening roar of a nuclear explosion. The Ghost had reached his destination, and he had terminated the compromised station, as well as every living thing on it and within a large radius. 


End file.
